What cut of venison is this, and is it still good?

[sasilverbullet]

I just pulled this 4.5 lb hunk of venison out of the freezer - been there for a year or two. Defrosted it, it doesn't smell bad, the blood that defrosted smells ok.

Is this venison still good?
What cut of meat is it?
I was planning on grilling or smoking it - it's 4.5 lbs.
How would you recommend cooking it?

 

[redbone3]

Not a clue. But, any venison is vastly improved by pot roast cooking.

 

[dave123]

Look's Freezer burnt to me

 

[Panzerman]

This is a argument I had with my wife. I say meat never goes bad if it is frozen solid. I d eat a mammoth elephant. She said it does. I ate deer steaks I found out of the freezer, that were aprox. 10 years old and didnt get sick. They were sorta tasted a little bland, but we didn't spend a lot of effort in cooking them either. Nothing wrong with that meat. Smells good eat it.

 

[dave123]

Originally Posted By: Panzerman
This is a argument I had with my wife. I say meat never goes bad if it is frozen solid. I d eat a mammoth elephant. She said it does. I ate deer steaks I found out of the freezer, that were aprox. 10 years old and didnt get sick. They were sorta tasted a little bland, but we didn't spend a lot of effort in cooking them either. Nothing wrong with that meat. Smells good eat it.


I did not say you will get sick nor will you but it will have a funk taste to it.

 

[hemitom]

There is a little bit of freezer burn on the roast but not bad, i would eat it without hesitation. It looks like its from the hind quarters??.

 

[Zaedock]

Originally Posted By: hemitom
There is a little bit of freezer burn on the roast but not bad, i would eat it without hesitation. It looks like its from the hind quarters??.


X2. Looks like a quarter cut. Throw it in the crock and dig in!

 

[dparm]

When in doubt, don't eat it. Food poisoning is not worth it.

 

[daves66nova]

Originally Posted By: dparm
When in doubt, don't eat it. Food poisoning is not worth it.
if you cook it well enough,you shouldn't get any poisoning,no?

 

[rainman49]

Looks like a piece of a hind quarter. Trim off the freezer-burned parts and remove the silverskin (that connective-tissue sheath). Then drop it in the crockpot, like Zaedock said, with your favorite seasoning and let her slowly cook. Some folks add a 16-ounce bottle of Classic Coke to the pot.

 

[Falken]

That freezer burn will taste really bad.

I wouldn't eat it.

Looks like a heart haha!

 

[silverrat]

Send in a piece for a meat analysis

 

[97prizm]

I had 5 year old elk burgers the other night. They were vacuum bagged and tasted fine

 

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: daves66nova
Originally Posted By: dparm
When in doubt, don't eat it. Food poisoning is not worth it.
if you cook it well enough,you shouldn't get any poisoning,no?



I'm afraid it doesn't work like that. Even if you kill the pathogens through cooking, they leave behind toxins that are not destroyed by cooking -- botulism is the most well-known, but there are others.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

To add to that, in the case of something that is spore forming (ie. anthrax), the spore can stay dormant until the conditions are ideal for the bacteria to grow again. And spores can withstand harsh conditions.

 

[sasilverbullet]

Thanks for all the inputs - I decided to slow cook it using the Sauerbraten spice mix from Knorr. Came out delicious! No negative results, just deliciousness!

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: sasilverbullet
Thanks for all the inputs - I decided to slow cook it using the Sauerbraten spice mix from Knorr. Came out delicious! No negative results, just deliciousness!

Good work for not wasting it! Our rule for venison/goat/lamb is either cook it rare to med rare or for a long time. Nothing in between.
I also love home butchering cuts. We did our pigs using a book, but a few packages ended up with "??? roast lean" and "??? chunk fatty" labels, as we couldn't identify what they were supposed to be. Also using the sawsall is a great time saver!

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: dparm
Originally Posted By: daves66nova
Originally Posted By: dparm
When in doubt, don't eat it. Food poisoning is not worth it.
if you cook it well enough,you shouldn't get any poisoning,no?



I'm afraid it doesn't work like that. Even if you kill the pathogens through cooking, they leave behind toxins that are not destroyed by cooking -- botulism is the most well-known, but there are others.

But in a deep freeze, i don't think there is any bacteria than can be active enough effect good meat at the time of freezing. Cooking at 85C+ for 5 minutes also destroys the botulism toxin itself. I don't know about other bacteria produced toxins but I suspect many don't survive 100C+ for a few hours that slow cooking would do, but I wouldn't test that myself unless it was dire circumstances...